Polycom works with Zoom to tie together cloud and endpoints

Collaboration with rival Zoom signals that endpoint's days are numbered

Polycom has announced a collaboration with long-time unified communications competitor Zoom, as it seeks to move away from its declining infrastructure business.

The new CEO of Polycom, Mary McDowell (who joined the company in September), has said that one of her focus areas is to broaden its technology partner ecosystem. While Polycom currently has an agreement with Microsoft - its products interoperate with Skype for Business - McDowell knows that not everyone uses Microsoft's tools.

In addition, Polycom is keen to move towards endpoint innovation. The infrastructure business has been shrinking as more people move to the cloud; hence the partnership with Zoom.

Bringing it all together

The companies are working together to produce a new solution called the Zoom Connector for Polycom, which combines Zoom's cloud-based video communications with Polycom's conferencing endpoints. The solution will be invisible to the end user; both products will simply work together.

"All it takes is one click" - Polycom

A single tap will begin or join the meeting from a Polycom touch screen (using the RealPresence Debut and Group series). The solution integrates with various cloud-based calendar services, like Google, Outlook and iCal, and provides HD video and audio and wireless screen sharing. As a UC system, it can be used across many devices, such as desktops, mobiles and other conference room systems.

We view this as a win for customers of both Polycom and Zoom; one will be able to use an excellent cloud collaboration solution, and the other will be able to use some of the ubiquitous endpoint systems in existence. In the future, the companies might extend their partnership further - although it's still early days.

A logical next step for Polycom would be to work with other niche UC vendors, all of whom can deliver something that Polycom itself doesn't have.